UK security service forced to disclose surveillance procedure

MI6, the UK's external security body, has given details of its written policy which covers how staff should deal with material covered by legal privilege - including exchanges between lawyers and their clients.

16 January 2015

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Internal papers make the following guidance to intelligence staff considering such material: 'Undertaking interception in such circumstances would be extremely rare and would require strong justification and robust safeguards. It is essential that such intercepted material is not acquired or used for the purpose of conferring an unfair or improper advantage on SIS [Secret Intelligence Service] or HMG [Her Majesty’s government] in any such litigation, legal proceedings or criminal investigation.'

Discarded material

The papers also mention a 'bin list' in which information seen as not material can be eliminated on the grounds of irrelevancy. This information could include the telephone numbers of lawyers, for instance. Cori Crider, a lawyer for Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, who was abducted and investigated by MI6, said: 'MI6’s brand-new eavesdropping policy still has serious problems – it still envisages that MI6 will snoop on private legal calls even in cases where it is being sued for torture.' Source: The Guardian